Washington, D.C. — New reporting today in the Washington Post reveals that once again, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce is leading the charge to obstruct much-needed progress on helping American workers and families get the support they need. The Post’s story details a new “economywide coalition” of leading U.S. corporate interests — spearheaded by the demonstrably anti-democratic U.S. Chamber — banding together to oppose the Biden administration’s broadly popular economic plan, which would make critical investments in child care, education, and clean energy that will lower costs and cut taxes for working families. 

“As if it wasn’t enough that the nation’s most powerful businesses cashed in big during the pandemic while millions of Americans lost their jobs and homes, these corporations are now rallying to block support for working- and middle-class families struggling to get by,” said Kyle Herrig, president of government watchdog Accountable.US. “Big corporations can’t continue to rig the economy in their favor as crucial support like child care and health care remain out of reach for so many families. It’s long past time for the American economy to work for the people — not only for wealthy corporations and their friends in Congress.” 

Even as the pandemic devastated the economy, 45 of the 50 biggest U.S. corporations enjoyed profits while 27 of them laid off and collectively cut more than 100,000 workers. At the same time, economic inequality just kept worsening, with the richest 1% holding a record-high 32% of the nation’s wealth by the beginning of 2021. 

This isn’t the first time this year that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce ramped up efforts to block much-needed protections for Americans. Earlier this year, Accountable.US launched “Drop the Chamber,” a campaign pressuring major corporations to cut ties with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce over its well-documented history of funding voter suppression efforts, including its ongoing lobbying assault against H.R. 1, the For the People Act.

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